Sumire September Love
by silvermyth
Summary: A collection of drabbles and one-shots featuring Axel, Roxas, Riku, and Sora. Written for AkuRokuRiSo month. Pairings and platonic relationships between and among the four.
1. Limerence

_lim·er·enceˈlimərəns/_

 _the state of being infatuated or obsessed with another person, typically experienced involuntarily and characterized by a strong desire for reciprocation of one's feelings but not primarily for a sexual relationship._

 _Pairing: AkuRoku - but technically Lea/Roxas. It counts though, right?  
Rating: T  
Word Count: 444_

Lea had bought the game on a whim.

It had been in a clearance bin at the Game Stop, and the windswept boy on the cover had caught his eye. He thought it was a JRPG, maybe, one of the ones Isa used to play, back when he wasn't so sour.

But "Twilight Tower" turned out to be one of those dating sim games. And, well, he didn't spend a lot of money, but money _had_ been spent, so he decided to give it a go, if only for some small amusement.

It was clearly meant for either a younger crowd, or pervy old people, because the boys were in a high school setting. Lea was just old enough for it to be a little weird, he admitted, but just young enough, really, because if they were seniors, it was only a four year gap, right? That wasn't much, in the grand scheme of things.

So he told himself as he found himself booting the game up on his DS in the morning, in between work and school, and at night before bed. The game travelled with him everywhere like a close friend, and he always smiled when that sweet but reticent, windswept blond regarded him from the screen.

Roxas. That was his name, the boy on the cover who'd caught his eye. He was a bit short, 5' 2" according to the information, but he carried himself well. He was cute but mature and sexy at the same time, without making Lea feel like an utter pedo. The black and white outfit he wore was stylish, but not in an I'm-totally-gay way (not that he would've minded that, really). Lea just wanted to boop him on the nose when Roxas made some witty comment about something or other in the game.

And he imagined what it would be like if Roxas were his real boyfriend.

He imagined sitting on the clock tower, watching the sun sets with him, the way his avatar did. Or watching Roxas at the skate park, putting Tony Hawke to shame (in Lea's opinion, anyway). Taking Roxas out to dinner at Lea's favorite restaurant was definitely something on the agenda, too, and he found himself wondering what Roxas would order.

Before long, Roxas had taken over all his devices. He was the background on his phone and laptop. There was a smiling picture of the boy that Lea kept near his bed.

Really, it was ridiculous. It was just a game, Roxas was just a collection of data: a nobody.

But Lea was totally infatuated with that bright bundle of data. What he wouldn't give to make him real.


	2. Witness

_wit·nessˈwitnəs/_

 _a person who sees an event, typically a crime or accident, take place._

 _evidence; proof._

 _Pairing: Soriku  
Rating: G  
Word Count: 585_

It was a warm and sticky night in San Fransokyo, the sun's departure having done nothing to cool the temperature, but Sora and Riku didn't mind it. It wasn't so much different from the weather in Destiny Islands. The two of them had come to the city, along with Kairi, for a sort of vacation. The urban setting was so different from their home world, even if the weather wasn't, and with Hiro and the gang around, there was a good chance they'd avoid any enemies. At least for a little while.

Kairi had insisted on spending time exploring on her own—" _I can take care of myself just as well as you guys can, you know!"—_ which left Sora and Riku alone together.

They walked in a comfortable silence, meandering through parks and little touristy gift shops, enjoying each other's company. It was something they never had time for when they were working with King Mickey.

Sora let out a soft laugh when he realized it. Riku shot him a questioning look. "You know, I think this is the first time I've actually been able to really do something like this on another world."

"Like this?"

"Yeah, you know. Just walking around and hanging out. Relaxing. Every time I was away before, I was too busy fighting. Or searching every nook and cranny, without actually seeing much of what I was looking at. Looking for someone who didn't want to be found, by the way!" Sora pouted, but it was a Sora pout, so it fled his face quickly, replaced by a smile. "That, and I didn't get to actually enjoy my time there. Not like this." A pause, and Sora took Riku's hand, swung it between them. "But I'm glad I can enjoy this one with you." The smile on his face grew to a grin.

Riku blushed and looked away. Even after they'd first kissed, he was still self-conscious around Sora. After all, Riku had been the cause of a lot of grief for his boyfriend, not so long ago. Of course, Sora forgave and accepted him. He had a big heart like that, but Riku was still coming to terms with it, himself.

Sora tugged on his hand to bring him back around, but something caught Riku's eye as he turned towards the brunette. He tensed, felt his body automatically grow hyper-sensitive to their surroundings, his back rigid. Sora felt the change and followed suit. Their joined hands separated, both ready to call forth their weapons.

"What is it?" Sora's bright voice had dropped to a whisper.

Riku shook his head, hair swishing around his ears. "Not sure."

Two sets of eyes scanned the darker places around them, watching for movement, disembodied shadows, soldiers—anything that might disturb their hard-won respite.

A squirrel skittered off on one side, darting up a tree. "Aw, it's just a squirrel." Sora's stance eased, even if he didn't relax completely. When Riku only frowned, posture still ramrod straight, Sora swooped in and pecked him on the cheek. "We're safe here," he murmured.

A distinct giggle floated down from the squirrel's tree, drawing both boys' gazes. There was a snap of breaking twigs as Kairi dropped down near them. Riku glared as his face heated up at her sing-song voice. "I saw that! You guys are so cute, I knew there was something going on between you!" The rush of words dissolved into another fit of giggles as Sora's face tried to mimic Riku's red coloring.


	3. I'm always a slut for Doritos!

_A drabble based on the tumblr post by garuye_  
 _Pairing: Sora/Riku_  
 _Rating: T_  
 _Word Count: 391_

It was just a short trip to the market, essentials only. It was that tight week right rent was due, so they had to watch how they spent their limited munni.

Things had been easier when Heartless and Nobodies left dropped items and munni after they'd been defeated. Not that Riku wished for those days to return any time soon, but there was always a certain simplicity of life on the road, trying to destroy or save the world. In the mundane world, they weren't watching their backs every second. Instead, they were watching their wallets.

Sora had already wandered to the next aisle over to pick up toilet paper, Riku pausing at the snack aisle. Despite his best efforts to avoid it, he moved further in, eyes flicking over the diverse offerings of chips and popcorn.

It was just a couple munni, Riku thought. Maybe they could splurge a little, after all. He called to Sora over the wall of between them.

"Hey Sora, do you want any chips?"

"I'm always a slut for Doritos!"

Riku narrowed his eyes and blushed with second-hand embarrassment. Really, who said those things in public? Riku was already muttering to himself about over-vocal brunettes when Sora's head appeared around the corner.

"Cooler ranch, please?" With that idiotic smile of his.

Riku's face softened. "Yeah, okay."

Sora, pack of toilet paper tucked under his arm, joined his boyfriend in front of the Doritos display. "You know what else I'm a slut for?" This time Sora's voice was low, close to Riku's ear.

Riku raised an eyebrow as he reached for the blue bag. "Sora, do you have to keep talking like that?"

Sora laughed and kissed Riku on the cheek. "I'm always a slut for Riku!"

Riku's face was beet red for the rest of their shopping trip, and when they got home, he trapped Sora against the counter. "Say it again."

Sora's lips curled into a grin. "Say what again?"

Riku gave him _the look_.

"Oh! _That._ " He leaned in close to Riku, so that they were only a breath away. "I'm always a slut for Riku," he purred. Riku leaned forward to close the space between them, but Sora danced away with a laugh, ducking under his arm. "You'll have to catch me first!"

Riku took off after his boyfriend with a chuckle.


	4. Limerence Part 2: Spam

_Prompt: Spam_  
 _Main Pairing: Lea/Roxas_  
 _Other Pairings: Sora/Riku_  
 _Rating: T_  
 _Word Count: 3023_

 ** _This is a follow up to the previous entry, Limerence._**

 _/spam/_

 _irrelevant or inappropriate messages sent on the Internet to a large number of recipients._

Roxas stopped halfway down the stairs and looked back up at the door leading to the roof.

It had happened again.

They'd eaten lunch on the roof today, and Roxas was certain he'd enjoyed the time with his companion. He must've, because they'd made out, and Roxas remembered the warm, fluttery feeling that filled his stomach. And the beautiful eyes on him. He'd definitely liked that.

But as soon as the door had closed behind him, it had all become hazy again.

How long had they been going out? It seemed like a long time, sometimes, and others, it felt like a first date. He couldn't remember anything specific about his dates. He couldn't remember anything specific about his girlfriend. She must be pretty; everyone said they made a good match. Was she sweet? Did she bring him lunches? What did her perfume smell like? What did her _face_ even look like? It was just a blur in his mind, the minute he stepped away. All he could remember was her name, Lea, and the long red hair cascading down her back.

He liked her, he knew that much. But the thought consumed him in the time in between: _why_ couldn't he remember more? What kind of person thought of their girlfriend and only came up blank?

But, he'd started to notice other gaps in his memory. Long spans of nothing. He would be in class, or between classes, and not know how he got there. He tried to map out his days, to pin them down, but it was useless. It only frustrated him, giving him agonizing headaches. Worse, when he dwelled on it for too long, he became nauseous, and the only thing that made the illness go away was to blank his mind.

So he clung to those bright moments with Lea, even knowing they would be less than faint impressions the moment he left her side.

Roxas climbed the stairs back to the roof, to see Lea again, and make another attempt at fixing her in his memory.

She wasn't there. Roxas couldn't remember her leaving. Again. He ground his teeth in irritation and glared at the sky.

Even the sky felt wrong.

o - o - o

Roxas sighed as he opened up his laptop. He wasn't sure why he even bothered, anymore. His irritation was breaking down into desolation. All those unfilled blanks in his memory, no matter how hard he tried to fill them, ate at him until the nausea came, and then his head would fill with white noise. It _couldn't_ be how things were supposed to be. He'd mentioned it to Hayner, and his classmate had just given him a funny look. It took him—he didn't know how long it had taken him, really, thanks to his faulty memory. But he'd realized that Hayner, and his other close friends, Pence and Olette, wore vacant expressions whenever they weren't actively interacting with him.

Everyone did.

Did Lea? The funny thing was, even though he couldn't remember the redhead clearly, he had a feeling that Lea was the only person that seemed real in his life.

Roxas propped his chin on a hand as he navigated to his email. He wondered, not for the first time, if Lea was like him. If she only felt real when she was with him. It sounded cliché, in the realm of romance, but on a philosophical level, well, that was something different. Did one really only exist in the eyes of others? There was something familiar about the idea, but he couldn't place it. Another dead-end in his mind.

Blue eyes flickered over the screen in front of him. The emails all ran together. They were for school, he supposed, but he registered them as empty links, like a book filled only with blank pages.

o - o - o

Roxas stared at his screen. His stomach felt queasy, and there was a sense of time passed, but again he was looking at his email. He couldn't even use his clothes to gauge time, since his school required a uniform. It sent a renewed thrill of fear through him, that he had no sense of time.

A new message in his inbox caught his attention. It wasn't like all the rest, didn't blend into all the others. Bold, black letters, declaring the sender and subject. "Huis Clos" from someone named Namine. He straightened in his chair and blinked. And clicked the link.

His first thought, when he looked at it, was _spam._ A faint memory, of Lea telling him about spam, that the soliciting emails were amusing as often as they were annoying, full of text that didn't make sense. The memory itself gave him a start, but he grabbed onto it and applied the knowledge. The text here _didn't_ make sense, except for a handful of words scattered through the message. "You think there's no exit." Halfway down, "You know it's not real." And, just before the signature, "The key is in the clock tower." Roxas scowled. He was trying too hard to find an explanation for his life, and the email played right into his thoughts. Of course it was fake.

o - o - o

Roxas couldn't recall how he'd made it to the fountain in the school quad. He turned, and his eyes caught on the tower across the street. The clock had hands, and showed a time, but he couldn't read it. The time, he knew, was insignificant, but he studied the face of it, anyway, feeling something tug at his mind. He tried to scrutinize that something, find its source, but the effort made his temples throb. He let the white noise seep in, but directed his feet towards the tower. _Something is there_.

The door handle was solid beneath his hand, and he paused to stare at it. The rest of his world shifted around him, but this one thing was steady.

It was dark inside, and he stumbled forward.

o - o - o

His bed was next to a window, and he gazed up at the sky. It felt endless, even with the press of clouds that wept rain.

It felt right.

There was a pale girl—all blond hair, white skin, and cream dress-sitting at a chair nearby, face screwed up in concentration as she scratched at a sketchbook. She glanced up, and seeing him awake, smiled. Her voice, when she spoke, was soft, gentle, and beyond her years. "Hi Roxas. How do you feel?"

Roxas sat up slowly, considering her question. He pressed a hand to his chest at a strange sensation there, and felt a steady _thud-thud_ accompanying his breaths.

 _Real_. _Right. Fixed._

"I feel good." He cocked his head at her. "Who are you?"

"Namine."

"Namine. I think I'm supposed to thank you, but I can't remember why." Roxas frowned. There it was again, that hideous blankness in his mind.

"What do you remember?"

"I—" No. _Empty_. It was all _gone_. He knew…he knew that memory had always been a problem for him, but there had always been _something_. Some sense of being somewhere, doing _things_ , but it was all, _all of it gone._ His voice was hollow when he continued. "Nothing. I can't remember anything."

Namine levelled him with a steady gaze. "That's not true. You remember your name, right? Is there anything else? Anything at all?"

Roxas' eyes strayed to the window, where the rain was lashing at the pane, the sky brightening for an instant as a great bolt of lightning shot down. Was there anything else? He felt his heartbeat again, and it reminded him of a fluttery feeling in his stomach. Of long red hair, and beautiful eyes, even if he couldn't quite recall the color of those. His mouth opened, and the name came out.

"Lea. I remember someone named Lea. I think…I think we were dating. She had red hair and…" Roxas trailed off. The description didn't seem right. He scowled. "That's it. That's all I remember."

Namine hid a chuckle behind her hand. "Ah, a…girlfriend. I see. Well, we'll see if we can find her for you."

Roxas couldn't keep the desolation from his voice. "Maybe I shouldn't see her, if I can't remember her."

Namine shook her head. "It's okay, Roxas, I'm sure Lea will understand."

o - o - o

Lea stared at the blank screen in front of him with horror.

He had thought it was a memory card glitch, that first time he'd turned his DS on to find his game save missing. He'd been devastated, after spending hours wooing the short blond boy, and taking him on dates. Kissing on the rooftop. All of it, gone. But…he could start over. It would be easy. In went the new memory card.

After a month, his second save had been wiped, too.

He'd tested both cards on other games in an attempt to troubleshoot the problem. Neither of them had proven faulty, but he'd bought a third card, just in case.

As it turned out, the game itself was faulty. It was a bargain bin dating sim, so he really shouldn't have been so upset about it. He could even get another copy…or not. It was impossible to find a copy, now that he actually wanted one. Something to do with a programming error that wiped the game itself after a while of playing it. Well, he could attest to that. And even if he _had_ found another copy of the game, it wouldn't be the same. He couldn't say why, even if it was ridiculous.

It was just data. Just a faulty program. He could do without it.

So he told himself, but he couldn't quite bring himself to take the picture of Roxas off as his phone background.

o - o - o

Roxas still couldn't remember much before the day he'd woken up in Namine's care. It bothered him, but less so, now that he was making new memories. Sora and Kairi had welcomed him into their group with open arms when Namine introduced him. Riku had been less than pleased, but then, Roxas didn't expect to win everyone over. Even so, he found his eyes straying over the reticent teen's lean form with appreciation. It confused him, for a short time, but he shrugged it off. When Sora and Riku began dating, he was no longer confused, and that was that.

Sometimes he thought about Lea, and wondered if she missed him, and if she had looked at him the way Roxas had looked at Riku. Or, even better (maybe worse, since she was gone, for all intents and purposes) if she had looked at Roxas the way Sora and Riku looked at _each other_. Other times, when he thought about her, he wondered if she was even real. Something about his memory of her was _off_ , what little he did remember.

A redhead caught his eye in a Starbucks one morning, months after he'd first arrived in Radiant Garden, or anyway, his first memory of it.

The man's hair reminded Roxas of Lea, fire-engine red and long, cascading in loose queue down his back. He was tall and lean, all angles, dressed in black. He'd already stripped away the green apron and nametag, but it was obvious he worked there. Roxas couldn't stop himself from staring as the sexy stranger walked out of the store with a little salute to his coworker.

Roxas shuffled up to the counter to place his order, eyes straying back to the door until the guy at the counter asked what he would like.

The guy's eyes widened when Roxas turned around to tell him. "H-hey! Has anyone told you, you look just like a guy in a video game?"

Roxas raised an eyebrow at the sandy-haired barista. "No, that's a first. Can I get a medium salt-caramel hot chocolate?"

The barista nodded, but continued on, unperturbed. "Yeah, you look just like this kid in the game, wait til I tell Lee! Oh man, he'd flip! What's your name, buddy?"

"Roxas."

 _Demyx_ , the nametag announced, rang up his order, still grinning. "That's just so weird, Roxy. You sure you never modeled for a video game or anything?"

Roxas crossed his arms, getting irritated. Who cared if he resembled some fictional character? He was _Roxas_. He was… _okay,_ he didn't remember much about his life before, so maybe he _had_ modeled for the game. He uncrossed his arms and schooled his features. "What was the name of that game again?"

Demyx shrugged. "Man, I don't know. My buddy Lee, though, he'd know. I could text him or something."

Roxas considered it, but then another idea hit him. "Does he work tomorrow? I could swing by again."

Demyx nodded and told him the timeframe; Roxas retrieved his drink and sipped it as he made his way home. Maybe this would be a clue to his past.

o - o - o

"Oh man, Lea, I forgot to tell you! You should've seen this guy that came in right after you left yesterday. He looked _just like_ your video game sweetie."

Lea unwrapped a sleeve of cups, shooting his coworker raised eyebrows. "My video game sweetie?" He scowled a little. It had been a couple months since the game had ceased functioning, and he was still a little bitter about it. He missed the digital boy, somehow, even if he tried to convince himself it was an unhealthy obsession.

"Yeah, you know, that game you used to play all the time, and you put his pictures on your phone and everything? Blondie. Really adorable button-nose, looked like he could be jailbait?"

Lea's scowl deepened, and he refrained from opening his phone to look at the character in question. He was still there, serving as an unimposing background. "You probably imagined it."

"Whatever. He asked if you worked today, seemed a little curious about the game. Must be kind of cool, looking like some video game hotshot."

Lea gave a noncommittal grunt and carried on with his work. Even so, he found himself growing restless by the end of it, almost jumping every time the bell on the door gave a tinkle. He knew it was silly. Even if the person resembled Roxas, there was no way they were anything like him. He was just coding, and a poor job that had turned out to be. He was about to punch his card for the day, feeling bummed out, when the bell clinked again. His eyes drew over to it, out of habit.

And stopped dead on _Roxas_.

The boy more than looked like him. He pulled his phone out, just to be sure. Yes, the blue eyes, the windswept spikes. The height was right, too. He didn't need Demyx's call to bring him to the counter.

"Hey Lea, it's him! What's the name of that game you play?"

Lea sidled up to the counter, trying to hide his eagerness. "Twilight Tower. But you won't find any copies of it, the games were all faulty, stopped working after a while." He tried to ignore the way those baby blues looked up at him, and the lips quirked down just a little. He certainly ignored his compulsion to pull the kid into a bruising kiss.

"Ah, that's a shame. Lee, was it?" The boy looked down at the name tag, eyes widening, then back up at Lea. "Lee…a?"

Lea shook his head. "The 'a' is like in 'wheat' or something, so it sounds like 'Lee.' I guess my parents wanted to be original." He let out a self-deprecating chuckle. The boy was biting his lip, eyes unfocused, like he was thinking of something. "Hey, I didn't catch your name."

He blinked and gave Lea his attention again. "Roxas. I guess mine must've wanted to be original, too, huh?"

Lea's eyes bugged and something of a nervous giggle escaped. "Roxas? You're kidding, right?"

"It's one of the few things I remember," he murmured absently, mind working again.

He looked over at Demyx. "This is a fucking joke, right?"

Roxas was glaring at him, cheeks colored pink. _Just like the video game character_. "What's the joke, then?"

Lea laughed. "As if you didn't know! You _just happen_ to look _just like_ this character I like in the game. And his name is Roxas, too. That is just too rich!" He laughed again. "Demyx, where did you find this guy?"

Demyx looked between the glaring blond and his hysterical coworker, and put his hands up in supplication. "I am _so_ not touching this one. Uh, Lea, you should probably clock out."

Roxas fumed as Lea clocked out; the taller man had barely made it past the counter before he rounded on him. "What are you talking about? _I'm_ Roxas. There's only me!" He narrowed his eyes. "Is this payback? Did we part on bad terms or something?"

Lea's laughter stopped abruptly. "What?" He gave Roxas a quick once-over. He was still young. Probably too young to be the model when the game had been in development. But… _what?_ "What do you mean, did we part on bad terms?"

"We used to date, didn't we? I couldn't remember anything about you except how to spell your name, and what your hair looked like. And my own name." The last he said quietly, eyes turning to the ground.

Lea's lips tightened in thought for a moment. And then: "Hey, Roxas? Why don't we start over?"

Roxas looked up. "So…you do know me?"

Lea sighed. "Y—I…no, not really. So, let's start from the beginning. Let me buy you a coffee and get to know you, okay?"

Roxas nodded in acceptance after only a slight hesitation.

o - o - o

Namine smiled at her handiwork. Lea had a shot at the real Roxas now. Roxas had a shot at becoming more than a forgotten bit of corrupted data. What happened now would be up to them.

Maybe this would be the life that everything worked out for them, for once. They could only hope.


End file.
